Calcutta University (CU) has lined up a series of interactive sessions with college heads and teachers to seek ways to improve its evaluation system.

Sources said a sharp decline — around 15 per cent — in the pass percentage of BA and B.Sc Part I 2007 (under the 1+1+1 pattern), compared with the previous year’s figures, has prompted CU to launch the initiative.

“The principals and teachers attending the meetings are being asked to suggest ways to upgrade the system of evaluating answer scripts,” said an official.

“All important issues related to a students’ performance — such as attendance, standard of evaluation and the review procedure — are being discussed in detail,” the official added.

Debashis Biswas, the university’s deputy controller of examinations, said: “The colleges have been divided into nine groups. The meeting of each group is being held on the premises of a college in that group.”

The first meeting, on April 3, was held at Bangabasi College. It was attended by the principals and teachers of more than a dozen colleges. The second meeting was held at Maharaja Sirish Chandra College and the third at Bijoykrishna Girls’ College in Howrah.

Following the announcement of last year’s BA and B.Sc Part I results, the university had started an exercise to identify the causes for the decline in the pass percentage.

The university is worried that students’ attendance in the first year is “very low” in many colleges — a likely cause for the poor performance.

“The 1+1+1 system and class tests have been introduced to ensure that the students are forced to attend classes regularly. Yet, the attendance has not improved,” said a university official.

A principal, however, pointed out: “Several colleges do not have the infrastructure to conduct class tests regularly. We have asked the authorities to prepare a comprehensive plan to increase the staff strength and upgrade the infrastructure of the colleges.”